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Join us as we follow the San Andreas Fault, tracing its remarkable impact on California . . . and on the people who study it, live on it, and even […]

Spectacular in flower and capable of surviving on limited rainfall alone, ceanothus are increasingly recognized as dependable landscape plants. Many gardeners discovered them during California's 1976-77 drought. Now, with increasing […]

NOVEMBER WAS ONCE A MONTH IN which the West as it moved toward winter could count on a few climatic certainties. Seattle and Portland residents zipped anoraks in preparation for […]

Old Growth Like so many resources, America's biggest trees--the virgin stands of coast redwood and giant sequoia of California, the Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, and Western red cedar […]

It's rare to find the right place at the right time. But this winter it's easy--head to the coast, at the height of Dungeness crab season. The season's opening date […]

Here's how to grow them CALIFORNIA NATIVE plants are too often relegated to the sidelines, even though their richness and diversity rival those of the common exotics we're accustomed to […]

* Each fall, an epic, fluttering flight to the coast of California and northern Baja California keeps Danaus plexippus ahead of frost's deadly chill. Unerringly, as if equipped with nature's […]

Here's where to see sea otters off the northern California coast A CAPTIVATING PLAYFULNESS and winsome faces make sea otter the teddy bears of the ocean. In spring, they're easier […]

ADMIRERS OF THE LONG-endangered bald eagle should be flying high right now. Not only is it prime eagle-watching season, but there are more eagles to watch. Thanks to habitat protection […]

We are ascending a high ridge above Bear Trap Canyon on a stormy spring day. Below us are steep green hillsides, leafing-out oaks, a solitary red-tailed hawk. "The amount of […]

MT. PINOS, CALIFORNIA--From this mountain's 8,831-foot summit, you see a Southern California you might be surprised still exists. To the south rise the high ridges of Ventura County's Sespe backcountry. […]

Here is what spring looked like throughout much of Southern California a few generations back. In this photograph, taken last May at Tejon Ranch on the south flank of the […]

IT'S A GOOD YEAR for monarchs, the orange-and-black butterflies that winter in California. In an East Bay park, a new wintering spot has been discovered, and Pacific Grove passed a […]

Notable natives The biggest concern most gardeners have about starting a drought-tolerant garden is that all year it will look as drab and dry as the hills in summer. It […]

Child of the drought At the height of California's most recent serious drought, Mrs. Rorie Skei began to landscape the bare 1/3 acre around her house in Thousand Oaks, using [...]

These bulbs are California comebackers One of the great privileges of living in the West is being able to grow with ease plants that gardeners in colder, wetter climates cannot. [...]

Altogether, a dozen subtropical fruits are displayed in these photographs, taken in a San Diego home garden. How many of the 12 can grow in northern California, where winters are [...]

Prime time for viewing eagles in northern California This month, two locations attract large convocations of eagles and eagle experts, giving you the chance to get better acquainted with these […]

California's native bush poppies ... tough and drought-resistant Touch and drought resistant, the big flowering shrub shown above is one of two species of native California bush poppies. Both thrive […]